Polls open in French Polynesia

Voters in French Polynesia are going to the polls today in the first round of the territorial election for a new 57-member assembly.

They will choose among nine lists of candidates.

Walter Zweifel reports.

"No party is expected to win an outright majority in today's election, in which the opposition Tahoeraa Huiraatira Party of Gaston Flosse and the ruling Union For Democracy of Oscar Temaru are widely expected to make it to the second round. The main challenger, the newly formed A Tia Porinetia, promises a fresh start after a decade of economic decline that has seen unemployment almost treble. Other parties call for more morality in politics to stop the return of Gaston Flosse, who has accumulated more corruption convictions that any other politician under French watch. Results are expected tonight and parties need 12.5 percent of the votes to make it to the run-off in two weeks."